There is no time for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team to stay depressed.

Around 48 hours after a heartbreaking one-point loss to Nevada, the Rainbow Warriors departed Honolulu last night for Fresno, Calif.

"Obviously, that was one of those losses that can stick with you for a while," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said of the 47-46 home loss to the Wolf Pack on Saturday. "But if you keep it with you, you'll get blindsided by the rest of the teams coming up, and we can't afford to do that."

The 'Bows will play at Fresno State on Thursday, in what has suddenly become a game of importance for seeding purposes for the upcoming Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

Hawai'i is 12-12 overall and tied for sixth place in the WAC at 4-8. Fresno State is 10-16 overall and in ninth place at 2-9.

The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. It is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. (Hawai'i time).

With just three more weeks remaining in the WAC regular season, the 'Bows are aiming to stay out of the dreaded play-in game of the WAC Tournament. The eighth- and ninth-place teams at the end of the regular season meet in the play-in game.

A Hawai'i victory on Thursday would put a sliver of separation between the 'Bows and eighth-place Louisiana Tech (4-9 WAC) and Fresno State.

"There's still a lot to play for," Nash said. "This last game showed just how close the league is. We need to get our momentum back and finish as high as we can for the (WAC) Tournament and see what we can do there."

If anything, Hawai'i has some confidence on its side going into Thursday's game. On Feb. 5, the 'Bows had one of their best games of the season in a 69-43 rout of Fresno State at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"This is a new game, and it's at their place," Hawai'i guard Kareem Nitoto said. "We know they're going to be hungry to get us back at their place. But, yeah, the way we beat them here, we don't want to give one back to them."

'BOWS GET DEFENSIVE ON RECENT HOMESTAND

Hawai'i held its last three opponents under 50 points — the first time that feat has been accomplished by a Hawai'i team against NCAA Division I competition.

On their three-game home-stand, the 'Bows limited Fresno State to 43 points, Idaho to 49, and Nevada to 47.

"We feel like we can defend any team right now," Nitoto said. "We just need to keep building on our offense and keep our confidence up."

Hawai'i went 2-1 in those games, beating Fresno State and Idaho, but losing to Nevada.

"We're holding teams down and out-rebounding teams," Nash said. "That's what we're trying to build on, the positives. The negative is we lost a game, so there's still a lot of work to do."

For the season, Hawai'i is limiting its opponents to an average of 64.0 points per game. The UH record for fewest points allowed per game in a season is 63.1 set by the 2001-02 team.

BALOCKA HURTING, BUT WILL TRAVEL WITH TEAM

Reserve center Petras Balocka sat out the second half of Saturday's loss to Nevada after aggravating a groin injury in the first half.

He did not practice yesterday, but traveled with the team and will be a game-time decision on Thursday.

"He's a little sore, so we told him to rest it before we get on that flight," Nash said. "We're hoping he'll be ready for the game."

Balocka, a 6-foot-8 junior, is third on the team in scoring with 9.1 points per game, and rebounding with 5.6 per game.

'BOWS FACE WAC-KY SCHEDULE AGAIN

After two weeks at home, the 'Bows will have to endure another quirky stretch of travel over the next two weeks.

Hawai'i will play at Fresno State on Thursday, then must return to Honolulu by Friday to prepare for a home game against UC Irvine on Saturday.

After that non-conference game, the 'Bows will leave Honolulu again the following Tuesday (Feb. 24) for road games at Utah State on Feb. 26, then at San Jose State on Feb. 28.

"We've been through this before," Nitoto said. "We can't use our schedule as a crutch or an excuse. We just have to deal with it."

'BOWS STRUGGLING WITH LONG-RANGE SHOTS

Hawai'i went 0 for 4 from 3-point range in Saturday's loss to Nevada, ending a streak of 135 consecutive games with at least one 3.

The last time the 'Bows did not make a 3-pointer in a game was Feb. 21, 2004, at Southern Illinois. The last time the 'Bows did not make a 3-pointer in a home game was Feb. 15, 2003, against San Jose State.

Hawai'i has 82 3-pointers this season, which ranks 339th out of 343 teams in NCAA Division I. Also, Hawai'i's .271 percentage from 3-point range ranks 338th.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluludvertiser.com or 535-8101.

NEW MEXICO STATE TOPS LATECH, 65-63

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — New Mexico State almost squandered a 17-point second half lead, but a dunk by center Hamidu Rahman with 9.4 seconds left gave the Aggies a 65-63 Western Athletic Conference victory over Louisiana Tech yesterday.

The Aggies (14-12, 8-5 WAC) won their third straight game for just the second time this season and they look to return the favor in 10 days when they travel to Ruston, La., in hopes of sweeping the Bulldogs (10-16, 4-9) in the regular-season series.

Aggies forward Wendell McKines posted his 13th double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds and guard Jahmar Young added 15 points.

—Associated Press